Yarn drying apparatus



H. s. DRUM ET AL 2,356,834

YARN DRYING APPARATUS Filed July 3, 1942 s Sheets-Sheet 1 OOOOOOcoco-000m :1: 31 oooocooomc 51 :11: OOOOOGOOOO iiEE E1:\KDOOOOOCIOOOOQZEEM INVENTORS 17573:? .57 Dream and/h illwrlz 0.170413070,

A TTORNE 1944- H. s. DRUM ETAL 2,356,834

YARN DRYING APPARATUS Filed July 3, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 &

Er@maewazazazaxenema 2 I I I I I 1944- H. s. DRUM ET AL YARN DRYINGAPPARATUS Filed July 3, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 \lllllll III III J atentedAug. 29, 1944 waste Harry S. Drum and William Pa, assignors to Smit Dpany, Philadelphia, Pa., sylvanla.

o. Dodson, -Abingrum and Coma corporation of Penit- Application July-3,.1942, Serial No. 449,642 15 Claims. (Cl. 34-105) The present inventionrelates to the drying of material after a treating, washing or other wetprocess, and relates more particularly to the drying of yarn in packageform.

In the drying of wet material, especially that in package form it hasheretofore been proposed to subject the package to a current of airwhich is internally applied under pressure with the intent to force theliquid under suspension to travel outwardly to the surface of thepackage where it increase in saturation during the travel of the airthrough the package, and

and damaged as the heated air continued to flow over them to dry theremainder. Loss of time and added cost of production were incident toprior attempts to safely and uniformly dry simultaneously a number ofyarn packages.

Some of the objects of the present invention are to provide a dryingapparatus in which the foregoing disadvantages are eliminated: toprovide a drying apparatus which is so arranged and constructed as toensure the uniform drying of yarn packages; to provide means for socontrolling the drying of material that the efilciency of high dryintemperatures without damage to the material; to provide an apparatus forth hot air drying of yarn wound on a perforated cylinder whereinprovision is made for step by step evaporation of suspended moisture; toprovide an apparatus for the hot the outside of the yarn; and toprovideother improvements as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 represents a sectional longitudinalelevation of a drying apparatus embodying one form of the present line.2-4 of tary sectional elevation of the cabinet with the yarn carrierremoved; Fig. 4 represents a fragmentary' perspective of the yarnpackage carrier showing the inner end thereof with its air inlet;

and Fig.5 represents spindle in association Referring to the are to bedried when the carrier ll is in the cabinet in. The yarn packages l2 areof the type in which the yarn is wound on a perforated core or sleeve Itso that air or treating liquid can enter the axis of the package totraverse radially outward through the package to the outside thereof.The direction of flow may be reversed according to requirements.

In the preferred form the carrier ll consists of a base M, here shown asrectangular, of generally enclosed box construction to form a manifoldhaving a distributing chamber ii for heated moved from place to andlongitudinal of disposed, tubular duct ed spindles 2| which are flutedor otherwise made to permit air to travel longitudinally thereof andthereby obtain admittance to the yarn package sleeve I3. As shown eachspindle 2| passes through the box top plate, then across the chamas amedium for maintaining the erly superposed in alined relation.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the for drying. Preferably theheight or length of the spindles 2| is less than the height of the ductl8, so that the latter can readily cooperate with a part of the cabinetas will later appear. Thus the carrier with its manifold, duct, and

. insulated top as to provide charge of heated 2 spindles forms aunitary wheeled structure readily movable as required. A grasping handle28 is secured to the duct ll at a convenient location for pulling orpushing the carried about.

In the preferred form the cabinet II is of rectangular box form, theside walls 24. rear wall 2|, top 2|, and front frame 21 for the doorsbeing of construction to prevent heat loses by Insulated doors II serveto close the the carrier H .has entered. As

radiation. cabinet after shown, the width of cabinet II is enoughgreater than the width of the carrier Ii to permit two spaced apartvertical partitions. in the form of heating coils ll, to be located inspaced relation respectively from the cabinet side walls 24 to form twopassages which are open at the upper ends and closed at the lower ends.These heating coils spectively of in close proximity to the upper andlower ends of the said spindles.

In order to confine the heated air to a path directly transverse to thepackaged spindles so that it enters the duct It, overhead partitions Itin the form of plates extend inwardly towards each other in the samehorizontal plane and are supported respectively from angle irons ll,which also serve as supports for the two coil assemblies. Thesepartitions 3! are spaced from the cabinet two laterally arrangedconduits 34 leading respectively to and communicating with the passages3|. The inner ends of the partitions 32 terminate in spaced relation andedged respectively with supporting angles II which project downwardlyinto the carrier receiving chamber, to form a longitudinally disposedslot as. This spacing is such duct is can enter there-between anddischarge the air into a suction compartment formed by longitudinallydisposed parallel wall strips 31 and transverse end strips 4!. Due tothe spacing of the plates from the top 20, the aforesaid strips 31 and38 form a chamber 4| housing two exhaust fans 4| so mounted and,arranged as to withdraw air from the carrier compartment and dischargeit through an exhaust outlet 42 in the top of the cabinet ll. Also thewall strips 31 are provided with outlets 43 so that some of the air canbe recirculated downwardly in the passages 3| and through the heatingcells 30. Inlet ports is are suitably located in the rear wall of thecabinet so that the tempered air leaving the openings 43 will mix withfresh outside air drawn in by way of these ports 39, and then circulateddownwardly in the passages II, and be heated as it passes through theheating coils l0. Motors 44 suitably mounted on the cabinet ll serve tooperate the respective fans 4|.

In order to supply heated air to the base I4 of the carrier, the lowerportion of the rear wall 25 is formed as a panel 45 having a horizontalelongated opening 48 communicating with a compartment 41 formed by thepanel 46, three sides 4|, a closed bottom BI, and a top 52, which latteris provided with air inlets 53, respectively supplied with air from ablower unit 54 driven by a motor II. Transversely mounted across thecompartment 41 and between the inlets II and the opening 40, is aheating unit SI of coil fin construction, through which steam circulatesfrom a suitable source of steam. It will be understood that the. heatingunit 56 has pipe connections to the exterior of the compartment 41 forthe steam supply and return. The opening 4| for thedisairisofthesamesizeandshape rise parallel to the outer rows-re-- thecarrier spindles 2| and terminate that the upper end of the assess asthe inlet ll to the. chamber ll of the carrier, and is furthermorelocated in direct alinement therewith. lincircling the opening 40 is asealing gasket I'I arranged to be clamped between the carrier base l4and the panel when'the carrier enters the cabinet and assumes itsoperative position. It is-preferable to provide suitable interlockingmeans between the carrier H and thecabinet ll whereby the former is heldclamped in position to maintain the gasket protected joint sealed withno leakage possible. Thus, when the carrier" is wheeled into the cabinetll. the inlet II is alined with the opening u and when the parts abutthe sealing gasket I1 is compressed therebetween so that the circulatedheated air passes into the base manifold chamber ii for distributioninto the yarn spindles I I.

In connection with the heating coils 30 it should be noted that therespective pipes thereof are spaced apart with relatively narrow equalspaces so that the circulated air passes through the coils with equalvelocity at all points and a uniform temperature is thereby maintainedfor contact with all of the yarn packages. This is one fundamentaladvance in the art since heretofore streams of heated air have beendirected to flow transversely of yarn packages and hence these packageswhich are first swept by the air are subiected to a higher temperaturethan those last met by the air. This type of heating militates againstproper uniform drying treatment of a batch of yarn. The drier of thepresent invention operates to dry the material by evaporating theretained moisture from the inside as well as from the outsidesimultaneously whereby the drying time is materially reduced as comparedto those driers in which the inside air under pressure forces theretained water to the outer surface of the packages where no provisionis made to prevent precipitation. In contrast to prior driers whereinheated air is forced outwardly through the packages under a pressure offive pounds or more, the present invention utilizes a pressurematerially lower than five pounds, and it has been found that air underone-half pound pressure gives unexpected and materially better resultsthan heretofore attained in the art of yarn drymg. Thus, where heatedair under, not less than, five pounds pressure passes outwardly througha yarn body in the absence of any exterior heating, the outerconvolutions of yarn are coldest and saturated with condensation. Inapplicant's construction the outwardly moving stream of heated air underapproximately one-half pound pressure, and operating in conjunction withthe exterior stream of heated air, results in the outer yarnconvolutions being hot so that precipitation on the surface of the yarnbody is prevented. By the method of the present invention utilizing alow pressure stream of heated air the time cycle has been reducedapproximately one half as compared to other drying methods.

In operation the carrier II is loaded with the yarn packages I! whileoutside of the cabinet Ill, and is then wheeled into the cabinet II,where it is locked in position with the inlet ll to the base l4 inalinement with the opening 40, and sealed by pressure against the gasketII. The doors I! are now closed and the blowers l4 and fans 4| startedto respectively initiate the circulation of the two streams of air overthe heater coils 30 and the coil unit II. The heated air stream from thetwo partition coils I passes substantially horizontally through thevertical arranged rows of packages and discharges through its ports 2%into the duct l8. At the same time the heated air stream from theheating unit 55 enters the base l4 of. the carrier where it is dividedinto strea s to respectively traverse-the spindles 2| and schargeradially of the respective packages. Emerging from the packages thesestreams enter the duct l8 byway of the ports 20, thus joining the firstmentioned stream to be drawn upwardly by the fans 4| into the chamber40, where a portion leaves by the exhaust 42, and the remaindertraverses the inlets 43 to be redirected to the two passages 3|. On theway to the passages 3|, the combined streams are revived by fresh airdrawn in through the ports 29, and then pass through the respectivecoils 30. Thus, each package is subjected to a low pressure stream ofheated air moving from the inside to the outside of the package while asecond stream is sweeping over the outer convolutions of the package ata temperature sufllcient to prevent precipitation in the outer layers ofthe yarn package. The result is an even drying of each package at auniform rate and temperature.

While in the foregoing reference has been made to a yarn package," orpackages, this is only by way of example and is to be considered in thebroad sense of any body of yarn, such as a yarn beanQso wound andmounted as to be capable of being dried in accordance with the teachingsof the present invention. Also, while the inven tion will more generallybe used to treat a,plurality of wound yam bodies simultaneously, theremay be occasions where a single yarn body such as a yarn beam is to bedried by the method of the present invention.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A drying apparatus consisting of a cabinet a carrier to be enclosedin said cabinet, said carrier comprising a base manifold and anapertured tubular member supported by said manifold but partitionedtherefrom, a plurality of yarn package spindles exterior of said memberand supported vertically by said manifold and forming air passages fromsaid manifold to the interior of said packages, means respectivelyclosing the passage ends opposite. to the inlet ends, means to circulateheated air through said manifold and packages to discharge into saidmember, and means including a source of heat to circulate heated airtransversely to said spindles about the outside of said packages to alsodischarge into said member- 2. A drying apparatus consisting of acabinet,

a carrier to be enclosed in said cabinet, said carrier comprising a basemanifold and an apertured tubular member supported by said manifold butpartitioned therefrom, a plurality of yarn package spindles exterior ofsaid member and supported vertically by said manifold and forming airpassages from said manifold to the interior of said packages, meansrespectively closing the passage ends opposite to the inlet ends, meansto circulate heated air through said manifold and packages to dischargeinto said member, means including a source of heat to circulate heatedair transversely to said spindles about the outside of said packages toalso discharge into saidmember, and means to circulate the combinedstreams of air over said source of heat to recirculate about saidpackages.

3. A drying apparatus consisting of a cabinet, 8. carrier to be enclosedin said cabinet, said carrier comprising a base manifold and anapertured tubular member supported by said manifold r is "butpartitioned therefrom, a plurality of yarn package spindles exterior ofsaid member and supported vertically by said manifold and forming airpassages from said manifold to the interior of said packages, meansrespectively closing the passage ends opposite to the inlet ends. meansto circulate heated air through said mani fold and packages to dischargeinto said member, means including a source of heat to circulate heatedair transversely to said spindles about the outside of said packages toalso discharge into said member, means to circulate the combined streamsof air over said source of heat to recirculate about said packages, andmeans to introduce fresh air into said combined streams. 4. .A dryingapparatus consisting of a cabinet having an air supply opening, awheeled carrier tobe enclosed in said cabinet, a manifold forming a partof said carrier having an air inlet located to assume an abutting alinedposition with respect to said supply opening when said carrier isoperatively positioned in said cabinet, a plurality of yarn packagespindles supported vertically by said manifold and having passages forair from said manifold to the interior of said packages, meansrespectively closing the passage ends opposite to the inlet ends, meansforming a compartment communicating with said cabinet opening, a heatingunit in said compartment, means to circulate air over said unit and intosaid manifold to dry said packages from the inside out, a heating coilmounted adjacent said spindles and spaced from the cabinet to form apassage for air, and means to circulate air through said passage todischarge through said coil and against the outside of said packages.

5. A drying apparatus consisting of a cabinet having an air supplyopening, a wheeled carrier to be enclosed in said cabinet, a manifoldforming a part of said carrier having an air inlet located to assume anabuttin alined position with respect to said supply openingwhen saidcarrier is operatively positioned in said cabinet, a plurality of yarnpackage spindles supported vertically by said manifold and havingpassages for air from said manifold to the interior of said packages,means respectively closing the passage ,ends opposite to the inlet ends,means forming a compartment communicating with said cabinet opening, aheating unit in said compartment, means to circulate air over said unitand into said manifold to dry said packages from the inside out, twoheating coils spaced by said spindles and respectively spaced from thecabinet to form two passages for air, and means to circulate air throughsaid passages to discharge through said coils and against the outside ofsaid packages.

6. A drying apparatus consisting of a cabinet having an air supplyopening, a wheeled carrier to be enclosed in said cabinet, a manifoldforming a part of. said carrier having an air inlet located to assume anabutting alined position with respect to said supply opening when saidcarrier is operatively positioned in said cabinet, a plurality of yarnpackage spindles supported vertically by said manifold and havingpassages for air from said manifold to the interior of said packages,means respectively closing the passage ends opposite to the inlet ends,means forming a compartment communicating with said cabinet.

opening, a heating unit in said compartment, means to circulate air oversaid unit and into said manifold to dry said packages from the insideout, two heating coils spaced by said spindles and respectively spacedfrom the cabinet to form two passages for air, through said passages todischarge through said coils and against the outside of said packages,and means to direct the discharged air into said last mentionedcirculating means for recirculation through said coils.

'l. A drying apparatus consisting of a cabinet having an air supplyopening, a wheeled carrier to be enclosed in said cabinet, a manifoldforming a part of said carrier having an air inlet located to assume anabutting alined position with respect to said supply opening when saidcarrier is operatively positioned in said cabinet, a plurality of yarnpackage spindles supported vertically by said manifold and havingPassages for air from said manifold to the interior of said packages,means respectively closing the passage ends opposite to the inlet ends,means forming a compartment communicating with said cabinet opening, aheating unit in said compartment, means to circulate air over said unitand into said manifold to dry said packages from the inside out, twoheating coils spaced by said spindles and respectively spaced from thecabinet to form two passages for air, means to circulate air throughsaid passages to discharge through said coils and against the outside orsuch packages, means to direct the discharged air into said lastmentioned circulating means for recirculation through said coils, andmeans to introduce fresh air into said recirculation.

8. A drying apparatus consisting of a cabinet and a carrier enclosedtherein, said carrier comprising a manifold, a vertically disposed ducthaving ports, a plurality of vertically mounted spindles for yarnpackages on said manifold arranged about said duct, said spindles havingpassages respectively for air discharged from said manifold. means forcirculating heated air across the outside of said packages and into saidduct by way of said ports, means for circulating heated air into saidmanifold and spindles to discharge through said packages and into saidduct by way of said ports, and means to cause the air discharged intosaid duct to be delivered to said first circulating means to traversethe outside of said packages.

9. A drying apparatus consisting of a cabinet and a carrier enclosedtherein, said carrier comprising a manifold, a vertically disposed ducthaving ports, a plurality of vertically mounted spindles for yarnpackageson said manifold arranged about said duct, said spindles havingpassages respectively for air discharged from said mar'iifold, means forcirculating heated air across the outside of said packages and into saidduct by way of said ports, means for circulating heated air into saidmanifold and spindles to discharge through said packages and into saidduct by way of said ports, means to cause the air discharged into saidduct to be delivered to said first circulating means to traverse theoutside of said packages, and means to introduce fresh air into the airrecirculated from said duct.

10. A drying apparatus comprising a chamber formed by a closed top, twoopposite closed end walls and two open side walls, a perforated plateclosing one side wall, heating coils closing, the other side wall, and amovable manifold arranged to enter said chamber to form the bottom ofthe chamber, a plurality of vertically mounted spindles for yarnpackages on said manifold arranged between said perforated plate andsaid coils, said spindles having passages respectively for airdischarged from said manifold, each spindle being arranged to support aplurality of yarn namesapaokagee in superposed relation, means to closethe upper ends of said spind1e8,'means for circulating air through saidcoils to traverse the outside of said packages and discharge throughsaid perforated plate, and means for circulating heated air into saidmanifold, said spindles and through said packages to discharge throughsaid perforated plate.

11. A drying apparatus comprising a chamber 7,

formed by a closed top, two opposite closed end walls and two open sidewalls, a perforated plate closing one side wall, heating coils closingthe other side wall, and a movable manifold arranged to enter saidchamber to form the bottom of the chamber. a plurality 'of verticallymounted spindles for yarn packages on said manifold arranged betweensaid perforated plate and said coils, said spindles having passagesrespectively for air discharged from said manifold, each spindle beingarranged to support a plurality of yarn packages in superposed relation,means to close the upper ends of said spindles, means for circulatingair through said coils to traverse the outside of said packages anddischarge through said perforated plate, means for circulating heatedair into said manifold, said spindles and through said packages todischarge through said perforated plate, and mean to recirculate thecombine streams of heated air.

12. A drying apparatus of the type in which a cabinet forms a chamberhaving an inlet for heated air and a door controlled opening, a yarncarrier to pass through said opening into said chamber, said carriercomprising a manifold having an opening located to register with the airinlet when in the chamber, wheels on said manifold, a tubular membermounted upon said manifold having a plurality of ports, said memberbeing closed at its manifold end and open at its other end to dischargeinto said chamber, and yarn mounting spindles carried by said manifoldto assume an operative position juxtaposed to said ports, each spindlehaving a passage communicating with said manifold.

18. A drying apparatus of the type in which a cabinet forms a chamberhaving an inlet for heated air and a door controlled opening, a yarncarrier to pass through said opening to said chamber, said carriercomprising a mani old having an opening located to register with the airinlet when in the chamber, wheels on said manifold, a tubular membermounted upon said manifold having a plurality of ports, said memberbeing closed at its manifold end and open at its other end to dischargeinto said chamber, and yarn mounting spindles carried by said manifoldto assume an operative position in substantially parallel relation tosaid member and juxtaposed to all of said ports, each spindle having apassage communicating with said manifold.

14. A drying apparatus of the type in which a cabinet forms a chamberhaving an inlet for heated air and a door controlled opening, a yarncarrier to pass through said opening into said chamber. said carriercomprising a horizontal disposed wheel mounted manifold, a tubularmember vertically mounted on said manifold having ports in the sidethereof and open at its,

upper end to discharge into said chamber, means to admit air to saidmanifold, and yarn mount-' ing spindles carried by said manifold andarranged about said member when said carrier is in said chamber, eachspindle having a passage communicating with said manifold.

15. A drying apparatus comprising the combination of a casing forming adrying chamber. means in said casing forming fixed portions of twosupplemental chambers, and a yarn carrier mounted to travel into and outof said casing, said carrier having the shape oi an inverted T a whichan elongated flat manifold forms the base and a perforated tube formsthe leg, said tube being closed at the bottom and having a dischargeopening into said casing, said manifold and tube forming movableportions to complete 10 said supplemental chambers, spindles i'ormounting yarn packages rising irom said manifold into said supplementalchambers substantially parallel to said tube, means for circulatingheated air thr-nrgh said manifold, spindles and packages into saidsupplemental-chambers. and means for circulating heated air transverselyof'said supplemental chambers to mix with the spindle circulation. saidmixed circulation passing through said perforated tube.

HARRY 8. DRUM. WILLIAM C. DODSON.

